2 questions in 1 thread

[aftermath]

first off...

i started a peach wine off last week using tinned peaches in a straining ban sitting in with the white grape juice sugar and other ingredients.
after 5 days i strained all the liquid through the straining bag into a 1 gallon DJ.

Now the problem, i accidently put in the jar a crushed camden tablet before i strained the juice to it, so yesterday i added another packet of yeast and a teaspoon of yeast nutrient to help it along, this morning the stopper was blocked with sediment also the sediment was very thick lying in the neck but there seems to be no airlock bubbles. i cleaned the airlock out and took some of the sediment away that was blocking the neck ( it was very thick and i thought that it was stopping the air from escaping )

will this still be ok ,

second few questions.....

i have just bought 2 kg of pears to make a pear wine.

do i leave them in a cupboard to soften before taking the cores out and de-seed ?
do i leave the skins on and mash them with them on ?
i have a juice maker that will turn the whole pears into juice , would that be a better option to put my fruit through a juicer rather than mashing ?

 

[liampenn]

Sorry I don't have the answers to this.
But I'm bumping this thread back up. To make sure it gets answered for you!
Good luck!
Liam

 

[bobsbeer]

Hi Aftermath,

What you did to clear your airlock should be fine. The added campden may slow thinga sa bit but it should get going again. Campden does not kill off yeast so there was probably no need to add more yeast, but it won't have done any harm. Given that you posted on the 16th you should have nearly finished fermenting and be ready to rack to a secondary fermenter by now. So I hope it went well. For your second question I would allow your pears to ripen to their max and then mash or juice. Mashing will also release any tanins in the skin and pectin,whereas if you peel and juice that part will be reduced. But you need a degree of tanin to help the wine. I have not made pear wine so I have no words of wisdom to impart, but hopefully others who have will share their experience.

 

[Crastney]

the general concensus on pears is to let them ripen fully, then freeze them, this will break open the cell walls, which will aid juice extraction. Pears tend to be very pulpy, so pectolase will be needed, to aid clearing. also if you mash the pears, and then leave for 24 hours before pressing, you get more juice. You could ferment on the pulp, like for other fruit wines - but I don't know if this will work, or why it wouldn't work, but it's not what Perry makers do.